Mitch Williams on D&C: Jayson Werth ‘a five-tool player’

MLB Network analyst and former relief pitcher Mitch Williams joined the Dennis & Callahan show Wednesday morning to preview the World Series between the Rangers and Giants. Game 1 is Wednesday night in San Francisco.

Williams said he’s excited for a series that features two middle-class financial teams. Said Williams: “I want people to figure out that the biggest payroll is not going to win the World Series every year. I am not a believer in that. I’ve always been a believer that you cannot go out and buy a team. You can go out and buy players, but they have to come together as a team in order to win.”

Williams compared the Giants to his 1993 Phillies team that reached the World Series. “You look at the Giants, they’re all a bunch of castoffs. And that’s what we were,” he said. “It goes to show you that you get the right group of baseball players together and you get all 25 of those guys on the same end of that rope, heading into the same direction, you can accomplish a lot.”

Despite the Giants’ feel-good story, Williams said the Rangers have the obvious advantage. “I think they’re a far more talented team than San Francisco,” he said, adding: “The Rangers are swinging the bat well. I think the Rangers offense is just going to prove to be too much for San Francisco.”

Asked about Phillies free agent-to-be Jayson Werth, Williams said the outfielder will justify the big contract he’s going to get. Williams said Werth is “a five-tool player,” and he discounted a comparison to J.D. Drew. “J.D. is not a five-tool player,” he said. “J.D. Drew can’t produce the power, he does not have the throwing arm that Jayson Werth has, he doesn’t have the speed Jayson Werth has. They’re not comparable. Not even a little bit are they comparable.”